The beating heart of the city

Sure, this is a no-nonsense drama with some thrilling qualities about NFL and its impact on head traumas. One man, pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, is determined to reveal the connection between American football and brain injuries, and the major league ain't too happy. Decent, even flawless in many ways, and somehow reminded me of Michael Mann's brilliant The Insider where one man fought against tobacco companies, but this is nowhere near its intensity. Will Smith's attempt to talk like Nelson Mandela started irritating me more and more as the film grew older.

There's something wrong with my line

I don't know where to start because the movie got me very confused. Hopefully it's all explained better in the book (courtesy of Stephen King), now it's just a mystery to me why there's people freaking out and turning zombies because of cell phones, who is the guy on the red hoodie, why John Cusack has become Nicolas Cage and what's up with the ending, is it a twist or an open interpretation?

A pagan monkey in a dress

It is like as this young London fella was all of a sudden drawn into a real life video game where everything is a tad askew, but in order to save his supposedly kidnapped girlfriend, he has to obey some weird and illogical rules of the game or figure out how to beat it. Maybe a crazy adventure for some, but it's seriously a fucking shit fucking movie.

Out monster the monster

A bit too much of everything and overall chaotic story telling where good cops and bad cops roam about in the Russian and Mexican gang territories. But, thankfully, the action is proper kind and there's plenty of it. As a sidenote, took me a while to recognize Kate Winslet as the head honcho of Russian mob, and, seems like a losing battle, Casey Affleck can't fucking act.

Buying a house for someone you hate

Well, some people did, but I didn't register the chemistry between Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. Particularly Gosling has difficulties doing comedy, he's either almost slurring his lines or overacting his "funniness". Fucking overrated actor anyways. Crowe is ok. The movie is quite cool tho, 70s L.A. timepiece, a distant cousin of The Long Goodbye (1973).

Into the highlands

Rams is about goat farmers, mainly two neighbours - and brothers - who doesn't get along too well. Some kind of sheep plague infects the farms and things go sideways. Nothing much here, but watching the oddities and scenaries of the beautiful isolated country of Iceland.

Pay the ghost with what

A missing children movie. But it's not your next door pedophile or kidnapper, we're focused on a Halloween bogeyman from the underworld. Insistent father (Nicolas Cage) on the rescue, and we hope it's not too late until NYPD connects the dots. The case is as semi-thrilling average horror that as one can imagine, I personally wouldn't have watched the damn thing unless Nicolas Cage wasn't there. As for Sarah Wayne Callies, now I understand more clearly why her character's demise was one of the most rewarding things on Walking Dead.

If we only defend, we lose the war

Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954), over three hours of eastern magic and warfare. Although it amazes me now, how I had the patience and time to watch this classic countless of times when I was a wee lad.

Relaxed and squared

It's about time Ben Mendelsohn gets starring roles he rightly deserves. It's a shame his character - an obsessive self-righteous gambler - ain't a too symphatetic chap here. Ryan Reynolds, as a sidekick, is a bit of a lost cause and pretty much useless in the whole story. Anyways, there are better gambling movies out there. 

Passions are like maps

Fine, they all (Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Dean Norris, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kelly) are like great actors, the story of over a decade long murder investigation is interesting enough, but why does it need to go forward in slow motion? At least somehow they messed up the magic of the original El secreto de sus ojos (2009).

The magical flute

A woman has been hired to babysit a boy, but turns out it ain't a living and breathing human being, it's a doll that his parents see as their deceased son. And this wasn't a movie if the boy wasn't a horror doll and the babysitter wasn't losing her bloody marbles over this.

Die for a ride

At least 300 million people lost their power grid. A family of three - father and daughters - are trying to get by in a remote cabin deep in the woods. After 10 days it's martial law out there everywhere and the situation gets into everyone's nerves and things are going from bad to worse. However when you get the hang of things, it can be quite inspring, but everything can go to shit once again, so it's quite nerve-racking. It's a full life cycle in few months time.

Thermal paper turns dark

The newly elected Russian president is under life-threatening danger, but luckily Finnish spetsnaz Viktor Kärppä is on the tail of the possible assassins. At first, I was well prepared to condemn the thriller because - in general - the Finns can't make anything of their own without ripping off Norwegian, Danish or Swedish intense Scandinavian crime noir, but there was a silver lining there somewhere. Of course it was at times a bit awkward and totally average and naive, but at least they tried.

Heroin, cocaine and amphetamine, all at once

US war reporter in war-torn Afghanistan and the movie goes through all the clichés, prejudices and deviations you can imagine. Half comedy half drama. It's only briefly funny.

In short time this will be a long time ago

Young Jay Cavendish is looking for his beloved Rose in vast western American territories, but little does he know that Rosie is an outlaw hunted by dozens of bounty hunters. In about 15 minute mark the boredom started to sink in, almost surprisingly tedious fucking thing.

The flood has already come

Apparently the world is fucked, but luckily Howard has built a comfy fallout shelter. However his two guests are starting to have doubts whether or not Howard is pulling their legs. Cool as shit dunno-what-to-believe thriller with really nail-biting final scenes.

So passes the glory of the world

British government officials play out a simulation where India is struck by an atom bomb and the entire world is on the brink of nuclear devastation. And they talk about the consequence (food supply, quarantine, retaliation, et cetera) in a conference room all through the movie. Some people are fucking jazzed about these kind of thought-provoking films.

Even the French pity you

Basically Michael Moore underlines the vast difference between United States of America and other so called civilized countries such as a) Italy, where working class people have insane amount of paid national holidays b) France, where they serve 4 to 5 star meals at schools c) Finland, with its best educated students in the world d) Slovenia, another free-of-charge heaven for students e) Germany, work 36 hours a week and get paid for 40 f) Portugal, with a lenient view of drug use g) Norway, with its rehabilitating prison system h) Tunisia, with its free government funded health clinics. Of course, Mr. Moore hams it all up like the next man, but the truth is out there.

Not the triumph but the struggle

The feel-good movie of the week is about the British ski jumping phenomenon Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards. It's an iron will that takes you to places and Eddie, who gave no shit, did just that. A bit silly the whole movie, even with people like Hugh Jackman and Christopher Walken backing it up, but the ski jumper guy deserves this kind of recognition at least.

Hell or high water

Nazi Germany planted over 2 million mines on the west coast of Denmark in WWII. When the war ended, and Germany defeated, it was the young soldiers who were ordered to clean the minefields. A heavy task for the lads and the local officers guarding them. Not perhaps quite the sensational international film boldly advertised and reviewed everywhere, but a thrilling thing enough.

Pissing in the wind

You can buy all the fucking al pacinos and anthony hopkinses of the world, but you can't make a good movie if the script is rubbish, all-around humbug from start to finish, and the actual lead actors (Josh Duhamel, Julia Stiles, Alice Eve, Malin Akerman) are absolutely horrible and totally ridiculous at what they are trying to do.